The U.S. Airlines With The Comfiest Seats

Life

Airlines are cramming more seats on planes , which means less legroom and narrower cushions. Last week, lawmakers proposed the Seat Egress in Air Travel (SEAT) Act . If passed, the FAA would have to come up with standards for airlines' seat sizes. In the meantime, it helps to know what you can expect from airlines.

In a statement , Rep. Steve Cohen (TN) explained that the average distance between rows of seats has dropped to about 31 inches from 35 inches in the 70s, before airline deregulation . The average width of a seat, he says, has decreased to 16 ½ from 18 inches.

Lawmakers tried to come up with a seat standard last year, too. It would've required airlines to post information about their seat sizes so customers could make a more informed decision. That proposal was shot down , but you're not out of luck.

SeatGuru offers airline comparison charts so you can look at the specific dimensions of seats, depending on the airline, aircraft, and class. Seatmaestro is a similar service, and they rank the U.S. airlines with the most seat space in economy class . A few on their list:

1.jetBlue : Surprisingly, discount airline jetBlue has the widest seats that offer the most "pitch" (distance between two rows, aka legroom). According to Seatmaestro, their cheapest seats have a pitch 32 to 35 inches on most flights, and some planes are between 37 and 41 inches. Seat width is typically 17.8 to 18.5 inches.

2.Virgin America: Seat pitch ranges from 32-38, depending on the aircraft, and seat width is about 18.7 inches.

3.Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines' Airbus A330 planes have up to 32 inches of seat pitch and a seat width of 18 inches.

4.American Airlines Economy: They don't offer dimensions, but in our research, seat width is between 17-18.25" and seat pitch ranges from 30-37" on short haul flights. Seatmaestro says their A321 airplanes have a pretty cool feature: "When the person in front of you reclines, the bottom of their seat slides forward to give your legs more space!"

Cheapflights breaks down the seat sizes of major airlines , too. It's worth checking out next time you have a flight. Seat width might not seem like a big deal, but when you're crammed next to someone for three hours, you might sing a different tune.

Source: lifehacker